Retirement Happiness Volume 1 – Issue 6 … by Bill Storie

Several years ago, I was attending an Investment Committee meeting of a large insurance company in Toronto. These guys were big hitters. About 30 minutes before our report presentation, my colleague, a seasoned business executive came downstairs in the hotel dressed casually. I, of course (!!), had a suit and tie, and I knew the Committee members would likewise.

So I said to my colleague (who is one of my best friends still), “Are you going back upstairs to put on a suit..?

He said, “Nope. If they ask, I’ll tell them that I’m no smarter in a suit”.

They never asked.

The older I get, the less inclined I am to pay a lot of attention to what I’m wearing. I don’t do “sloppy” granted, but I also don’t think too much about what to wear. As long as I’m comfortable then I know whatever I have in my closet will suffice.

It may be different for a woman. She may wish to be well presented every time she leaves the house. I accept that of course.

All of that raises the question as to whether you have enough clothes already. When you were working, did you buy new threads every week or so…? Some people do that, some don’t. But certainly the ability to buy, in most cases, is easier when the salary comes in each week or month. Then retirement kicks in.

Now what…?

Does that “obsession” to buy still exist..? Are you still HAPPY if you go to the mall and come home with something new…? Now that you are perhaps on a reduced budget, does the new clothing thing continue to be of high interest to you ..?

The bottom line is simple. If you like buying new clothes AND you can afford them, then if that’s what makes you HAPPY, continue. On the other hand, if you can make do with your existing closet (with the odd, random purchase) and THAT makes you HAPPY, continue.

If you always bought Christian Dior or Gucci, and you can still afford to wear them, then retirement may be a REALLY Happy place for you, and your worries are only of the visual variety. If so, well done.

Perhaps the best course of action would be to think about the need for new clothes in your NEW environment i.e. retirement, and work out if you really do need new clothing quite as often as you did in the past. Maybe by altering your mindset away from being “trendy” to being “practical”, then perhaps your wardrobe and your wallet will be in harmony.

Ask yourself this question:-

“Do I really need to dress-to-impress everyone at the bridge club…?

Next week we’ll continue to explore some of the positive ways you can change your life and find deep, sustainable HAPPINESS in a variety of everyday things in your life right now.

I think i am happy with what i have as i approach retirement period. I consider being practical to be of primary importance how one looks after is how one mix match dresses one has accumulated and still come out smart and fashionable. Consider comfort too since no matter how nice ones dress if you are not comfortable it will show. Certainly since retirement we dont produce much we should know how to manage our resources wisely.